March 3—The bill was defeated^-yeas 11, nays 19.

1876, June 20—The Connecticut House of Representatives, by a vote of one hundred and six yeas to seventy nays, passed a bill providing that women who pay taxes on property worth five hundred dollars, and which they own, shall have a right to vote at local elections at any time within one year after they have paid their taxes.

1876, January 25—In Senate of the U. S., Mr. Sargent presented a petition of women, citizens of the United States, praying the establishment of a government in the District of Columbia which shall secure to women the right to vote; which was referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia, and ordered to be printed.

Constitutional Amendments in Con-
necticut.

In addition to the record given (pp. 98, 99), the legislature which recently adjourned passed five proposed amendments to the Constitution of the State, which go over to the next legislature, and will require therein a two-thirds majority, before being submitted to the people. Their titles are as follow:

Amendment prohibiting special legislation on corporations, county seats, voting places, rail-; roads, etc.

Amendment prohibiting extra pay to public officers.

Amendment limiting each town to one representative.

Amendment increasing the senatorial districts to 27 or 31.

Amendment prohibiting use of money in elections.

Rescinding a Resolution of Censure. Forty-Third Congress, Second Session*

1875, March 2—Mr. Scofield submitted this resolution, which was agreed to:

Whereas the House of Representatives, on the 30th day of April, 1862, adopted a resolution censuring Simon Cameron for certain irregular proceedings as Secretary of War in the matter of purchasing military supplies at the outbreak of the rebellion; and whereas on the 26th day of the ensuing month the then President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, in a special message to Congress, assumed for the Executive Department of the Government the full responsibility of the proceedings complained of, declaring in said message that he should be wanting equally in candor and injustice if he should leave the censure to rest exclusively or chiefly on Mr. Cameron, and added that it was due to Mr. Cameron to say that, although he fully approved the proceedings, they were not moved nor suggested by him, and that not only the President but all the other heads of Departments were at least equally responsible with him for whatever error, wrong, or fault was committed in the premises; therefore

Resolved, That this House, as an act of personal justice to Mr. Cameron and as a correction of its own records, hereby directs that said resolution be rescinded, and that "rescission" be en

tered on the margin of the Journal where said resolution is recorded.

[For copy of President Lincoln's Message, referred to, and resolution, see McPherson's Rebellion, p, 333.]

The Law Governing Election of Representatives in Congress*

All the Representatives in Congress are now elected on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, except in the States of Indiana, Maine, and Ohio, and for the alternate Congresses in Iowa.

The law of the United States on the subject is as follows:

February 2, 1872, a law was passed establishing the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, 1876, as the day for the election of Representatives and Delegates in the Forty-fifth Congress; and the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, in every second year thereafter, for the election of succeeding Congresses.

March 3, 1875, a *aw was passed modifying the above "so as not to apply to any State that has not yet changed its day of election, and whose Constitution must be amended in order to effect a change in the day of the election of State officers in said State."

The proposed new Constitution of Ohio—in which the day of election was changed to November—having been voted down August 18, 1S74, this section relieved that difficulty. Indiana and Maine were the only other States to which its terms applied. Connecticut has since March 3, 1875, by Constitutional Amendment fixed its election for State officers on the same day in November, and New Hampshire did at the late session of the Legislature. The Constitution of Iowa is peculiar, in providing that in Presidential years, members of Congress and State officers shall be elected on the day of the Presidential election, and on the alternate years, on the second Tuesday of October. Thus members of the Forty-fifth Congress will be chosen in that State in November, 1876; of Forty-sixth, in October, 1878.

By act of 28th February, 187.1, all votes for Representatives in Congress must be by written or printed ballot; and all votes allowed or received contrary to this section shall be of no effect.

Rhode Island.

The proposed amendments printed on page 115 were ratified by the late General Assembly, June 14, 1876, the first-named in the Senate by a vote of 28 to o, and in the House 46 to 21. The second-named was ratified in the Senate 27 to I, and in the House 51 to 16. The last-named was ratified in the Senate, yeas 28, nays o, and in the House, yeas 66, nays o. These amendments are to be voted on, November 7, 1876, and if approved by three-fifths of the electors voting, will become a part of the Constitution.

Changes in List of Congressmen*

Since pages 138-140 have been stereotyped, the following changes have taken place:

In HovsE—Winthrop W. Ketchum, of Pennsylvania, resigned July 19, 1876, to accept the Judgeship of the United States for the Western District of that State.

Edmund W. M. Mackey was unseated, July 19, 1876, by a vote of the House—the seat being declared vacant.

John Goode, July 28, 1876, was voted—yeas 105, nays 99—entitled to hold a seat as a Representative from Virginia, the majority of the committee on elections Having reported that Hon. James H. Piatt, jr., was duly elected.

Josiah G. Abbott, of Massachusetts, qualified July 28, 1876, in place of Mr. Frost, unseated July 14, by a vote of 102 to 79.

President Grant's Message Respecting the Provisions of the Sundry Civil Appropriation Act, July 31, 1876.

To the House of Representatives:

The act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, is so defective in what it omits to provide for that I cannot announce its approval without at the same time pointing out what seem to be its defects. It makes but inadequate provision for the service at best, and in some instances fails to make any provision whatever.

Notably among the first class is the reduction in the ordinary annual appropriations for the revenue-cutter service, to the prejudice of the customs revenue.

The same may be said of the Signal Service, as also the failure to provide for the increased expenses devolved upon the mints and assay offices by recent legislation, and thus tending to defeat the objects of that legislation.

Of this class, also, are public buildings, for the protection, preservation, and completion of which there is no adequate appropriation, while the sum of $100,000 only is appropriated for the repairs of the different navy-yards and stations and the preservation of the same, the ordinary and customary appropriations for which are not less than $ 1,000,000.

A similar reduction is made in the expenses for armories and arsenals.

The provision for the ordinary judicial expenses is much less than the estimated amount for that important service, the actual expenditures of the last fiscal year, and the certain demands of the current year.

The provision for the expenses of the surveys of public lands is less than one-half of the usual appropriation for that service and what are understood to be its actual demands.

Reduction in the expenditures for light-houses, beacons, and fog-stations is also made in similar proportion.

Of the class for which no appropriation is made, among the most noticeable, perhaps, is that portion of the general expenses of the District of Columbia, on behalf of the United States, as appropriated in former years, and the judgr ments of the Court of Claims. The failure to make a. reasonable contribution to the expenses of the nation's capital is an apparent dereliction on the part of the United States, and rank injus

tice to the people here who bear the burdens; while to refuse or neglect to provide for the payment of solemn judgments of its own courts is, apparently, to repudiate. Of a different character, but as prejudicial to the Treasury, is the omission to make provision to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to have the rebel archives and records of captured and abandoned property examined and information furnished therefrom for the use of the Government.

Finally, without further specification of detail, it may be said that the act which in its title purports to make provision for a diverse and greatly extended civil service, unhappily appropriates an amount not more than 65 per cent, of its ordinary demands.

The legislative department establishes and defines the service, and devolves upon the Executive Departments the obligation of submitting annually the needful estimates of expenses of such service. Congress properly exacts implicit obedience to the requirements of the law in the administration of the public service, and rigid accountability in the expenditures therefor. It is submitted that a corresponding responsibility and obligation rests upon it to make the adequate appropriations to render possible such administration, and tolerable such exaction. Anything short of an ample provision for a specified service is necessarily fraught with disaster to the public interests, and is a positive injustice to those charged with its execution.

To appropriate and to execute are corresponding obligations and duties, and the adequacy of the former is the necessary measure of the efficiency of the execution.

In this eighth month of the present session of Congress—nearly one month of the fiscal year to which this appropriation applies having passed— I do not feel warranted in vetoing an absolutely necessary appropriation bill; but in signing it I deem it a duty to show where the responsibility belongs for whatever embarrassments may arise in the execution of the trust confided to me.

U. S. Gkant.

Executive Mansion, July 31,1876.

President Grant's Message relating to the Slaughter of American Citizens at Hamburg, South Carolina, August 1, 1876.

To the Senate of the United States:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of July 20,1876, calling upon the President to communicate to the Senate, if in his opinion not incompatible with the public interest, any information in regard to the slaughter of American citizens at Hamburg, South Carolina, I have the honor to submit the following inclosures, to wit:

No. I. Letter of the 22d of July, 1876, from Governor D; H. Chamberlain, of South Carolina, to me.

No. 2. My reply thereto.

No. 3. Report of Hon. William Stone, attorney-general of South Carolina.

No. 4. Report of General H. W. Purvis, adjutant and inspector-general of South Carolina.

No. 5. Copy of evidence taken before a coroner's jury investigating facts relating to the Hamburg massacre.

No. 6. Printed copy of statement of M. C. Butler, of South Carolina.

No. 7. Printed letter from the same to the editors of the Journal of Commerce.

No. 8. Copy of letter from Governor Chamberlain to Hon. T. J. Robertson.

No. 9. An address to the American people by the colored citizens of Charleston, South Carolina.

No. 10. An address by a committee appointed at a convention of leading representatives of Columbia, South Carolina.

No. 11. Copy of letter of July 15, 1876, from the district attorney of Mississippi to the AttorneyGeneral of the United States.

No. 12. Letter from same to same.

No. 13. Copy of report of a grand jury lately in session in Oxford, Mississippi.

These inclosures embrace all the information in my possession touching the late disgraceful and brutal slaughter of unoffending men at the town of Hamburg, South Carolina. My letter to Governor Chamberlain contains all the comments I wish to make on the subject. As allusion is made in that letter to the condition of other States, and particularly to Louisiana and Mississippi, I have added to the inclosures letters and testimony in regard to the lawless condition of a portion of the people of the latter State.

In regard to Louisiana affairs, murders and massacres of innocent men for opinion's sake, or on account of color, have been of too recent date and of too frequent occurrence to require recapitulation or testimony here. All are familiar with their horrible details, the only wonder being that so many justify them or apologize for them.

But recently a committee of the Senate of the United States visited the State of Mississippi to take testimony on the subject of frauds and violence in elections. Their report has not yet been made public; but I await its forthcoming with a feeling of confidence that it will fully sustain all that I have stated relating to fraud and violence in the State of Mississippi.

U. S. Grant.

Executive Mansion, July 31, 1876.

The following is the President's letter to Gov. Chamberlain, referred to above:

Executive Mansion, Washington, July 26, 1876.

Dear Sir: I am in receipt of your letter of tHe 22d of July, and all the enclosures enumerated therein, giving an account of the late barbarous massacre of innocent men at the town of Hamburg, S. C. The views which you express as to the duty you owe to your oath of office and the citizens to secure to all their civil rights, including their right to vote according to the dictates of their own consciences, and the further duty of the Executive of the nation to give all needful aid, when properly called on to do so, to enable you to insure this inalienable right, I fully concur in.

The scene at Hamburg, as cruel, bloodthirsty, wanton, unprovoked, and as uncalled for as it was, is only a repetition of the course that has been pursued in other States within the last few years, notably in Mississippi and Louisiana. Mississippi is governed to-day by officials chosen through fraud and violence, such as would

scarcely be accredited to savages, much less to a civilized and Christian people. How long these things are to continue, or what is to be the final remedy, the great Ruler of the Universe only knows. But I have an abiding faith that the remedy will come, and come speedily, and I earnestly hope that it will come peacefully. There has never been a desire on the part of the North to humiliate the South; nothing is claimed for one State that is not freely accorded to all others, unless it may be the right to kill negroes and Republicans without fear of punishment and without loss of caste or reputation. This has seemed to be a privilege claimed by a few States.

I repeat again, that I fully agree with you as to the measure of your duties in the present emergency, and as to my duties. Go on, and let every Governor, where the same dangers threaten the peace of his State, go on in the conscientious discharge of his duties to the humblest as well as the proudest citizen, and I will give every aid for which I can find law or constitutional power. A government that cannot give protection to the life, property, and all guaranteed civil rights (in this country the greatest is an untrammeled ballot) to the citizen is, in so far, a failure, and every energy of the oppressed should be exerted (always within the law and by constitutional means) to regain lost privileges or protection.

Too long denial of guaranteed rights is sure to lead to revolution, bloody revolution, where suffering must fall upon the innocent as well as the guilty. Expressing the hope that the better judgment and co-operation of the citizens of the State over which you have presided so ably may enable you to secure a fair trial, and punishment of all offenders without distinction of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and without aid from the Federal Government, but with the promise of such aid, on the conditions named in the foregoing, I subscribe myself very respectfully your obedient servant,

U. S. Grant.

To the Hon. D. H. Chamberlain, Governor of South Carolina.

[From the newspapers.] Chinese Immigration.—Official returns made to the Bureau of Statistics show that during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1876, there arrived in the United States 22,572 Chinese immigrants, of whom only 259 were females. Of this number 21,262 arrived in San Francisco, 915 in Oregon and 395 in Puget Sound. During the corresponding period of 1875 the total immigration to the United States from China was 16,437, of whom 382 were females. This shows an increase in 1876 over 1875 of 6,135.

The State Of Colorado.—The President, in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress, approved March 3, 1875, issued a proclamation, August I, 1876, declaring and proclaiming the fact that the fundamental conditions imposed by Congress on the State of Colorado to entitle that State to admission to the Union, have been ratified and accepted, and that the admission of said State into the Union is now complete.

Bonds issued to the Pacific Railway Companies, interest payable in lawful money—Principal outstanding, $64,623,512.00; interest accrued and not yet paid, $323,117.56; interest paid by the United States, $32,080,213.42; interest repaid by transportation of mails, etc., $6,909,204.91; balance of interest paid by the United States, $25,171,013.51.

Currency Figures To August I.—The Comptroller of the Currency has made a statement showing the issue and retirement of national bank notes and legal tender notes under the acts of June 20,1874, and January 14, 1875, to August 1, 1876. The amount of national bank circulation retired and surrendered from January 14, 1875, to August 1, 1876, is $39,697,990. The amount issued between the same dates is $15,475,965, showing a decrease of national bank circulation of $24,222,025. The amount of legal tender notes deposited from June 20, 1874 (including $3,813,675 on deposit at that date), to August I, 1876, for the purpose of retiring national bank circulation, was $61,590,141,

of which amount $25,310,349 remained on deposit August I, 1875. The additional circulation issued since January 14, 1875, is $15,475,965, of which amount 80 per cent, in legal tender notes, or $12,380,722 has been retired, leaving the amount of legal tender notes outstanding August I, 1876, $369,619,228.

The following is a statement of the United States currency outstanding at that date:

Old demand notes $66,792 50

Legal tender notes, new issue • ..... 27,435,078 00

Legal tender notes, series of 1869. 223,635,488 00

Legal tender notes, series of 1874... 61,892 554 00

Legal tender notes, series of 1875 56,656,108 00

One-year notes of 1863 61,045 00

Two-year notes of 1863 18,850 00

Two-year coupon notes of 1863 24,800 00

Compound interest notes 328,620 00

Fractional currency, 1st issue 4,294,854 92

Fractional currency, 2d issue 3,117,076 28

Fractional currency, 3d issue 3,066,479 83

Fractional currency, 4th issue, 1st series... 4,221,856 08

Fractional currency, 4th issue, 2d series... 1,061,226 55

Fractional currency, 4th issue, 3d series,... 1,903 006,65

Fractional currency, 5th issue..., 15,238,380,08

Total.... $403,022,2*5 89

Gold Coin in the Treasury.

The following letter was presented to the House July 31, 1876:

Treasury Department, July 29,1876.

Sir: I am in receipt of the resolution of the House of Representatives, dated the 24th instant, requesting me to report to the House within one week from the passage of the resolution the amount of gold coin and gold bullion, respectively, in the Treasury and actually owned by the Government, with a full detailed statement of the amount of gold certificates outstanding, gold interest due and unpaid, called bonds, and all other obligations payable in gold on demand on that date, and in reply I have the honor to state that the available coin balance at the close of business on the 24th instant was

$61,158,223 45

Made up as follows:

Gold coin................. $41,627,450 56

Gold bullion 11,030,095 87

Silver coin and bullion 8,500^677 02

■■••.,- • ■ 61,158,223 45

Against which there were matured obligations, payable on demand, as follows:

Coin interest.. 10,456,386 29

Bonds called or matured and

interest thereon 3,026,62751

Coin certificates 30,230,100 00

Old demand notes, , 66,90750

43,780,021 30

Leaving a balance in excess of all such obligations of. 17,378,202 15

Very respectfully,

LOT M. MORRILL, Secretary. Hon. Milton Sayler, Speaker pro tempore, House of Representatives.

presented to the President for his approval, he may withhold his approval tp any clause or clauses, or provision or provisions, in such bill, and approve the remainder; and in such case he shall state his objections to the portions disapproved in the same manner as is provided in article first, section seven of the Constitution; and all provisions of said section as to bills not approved shall apply to the item or items so disapproved.

This body met in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 14th of June, in pursuance of the following call:

The next Union Republican National Convention for the nomination of candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States will be held in the city of Cincinnati, on Wednesday, the fourteenth day of June, 1876, at 12 o'clock noon, and will consist of delegates from each State equal to twice the number of its Senators and Representatives in Congress, and of two delegates from each organized Territory and the District of Columbia.

In calling the conventions for the election of delegates, the committees of the several States are recommended to invite all Republican electors, and all other voters, without regard to past political differences or previous party affiliations, who are opposed to reviving sectional issues, and desire to promote friendly feeling and permanent harmony throughout the country by maintaining and enforcing all the constitutional rights of every citizen, including the full and free exercise of the right of suffrage without intimidation and without fraud; who are in favor of the continued prosecution and punishment of all official dishonesty, and of an economical administration of the Government by honest, faithful, and capable officers; who are in favor of making such reforms in government as experience may from time to time suggest; who are opposed to impairing the credit of the nation by depreciating any of its obligations, and in favor of sustaining in every way the national faith and financial honor; who hold that the common-school system is the nursery of American liberty, and should be maintained absolutely free from sectarian control; who believe that, for the promotion of these ends, the direction of the Government should continue to be confided to those who adhere to the principles of 1776, and support them as incorporated in the Constitution and the laws; and who are in favor of recognizing and strengthening the fundamental principle of National Unity in this Centennial Anniversary of the birth of the Republic. E. D. Morgan, Chairman, Wm. E. Chandler, Secretary^ Republican National Committee.

Washington, January 13, 1876.

At 12 o'clock it was called to order by Edwin M. Morgan, of New York, on whose motion, after some remarks, Theodore M. Pomeroy, of New York, was elected temporary President.

On motion, committees were appointed, consisting of one from each State and Territory, elected by the delegations respectively, on Permanent Organization; on Rules and Order of Business; on Credentials; and on Resolutions.

After some time, during which speeches were made by John A. Logan, Joseph R. Hawley, Edward F. Noyes, Henry Highland Garnet, William A. Howard, and Frederick DougLass, the Committee on Permanent Organization, through Geo. B. Loring, of Massachusetts, reM

ported a list of officers, who were elected—EdWard Mcpherson, of Pennsylvania, being the permanent President.

June 15—After some preliminary business, John Cessna, of Pennsylvania, from the Committee on Rules and Order of Business, reported the following rules for the government of the Convention:

Rules And Order Of Business.

Rule I. Upon all subjects before the Convention the States shall be called in alphabetical order, and next the Territories and the District of Columbia.

Rule 2. Each State shall be entitled to double the number of its Senators and Representatives in Congress, according to the late apportionment, and each Territory and the District of Columbia shall be entitled to two votes. The votes of ea^li delegation shall be reported by its chairman.

Rule 3. The report of the Committee on Credentials shall be disposed of before the report of the Committee on Platform and Resolutions is acted upon, and the report of the Committee of Platform and Resolutions shall be disposed of before the Convention proceeds to the nomination of candidates for President and Vice-President.

Rule 4. In making the nominations for President and Vice-President, in no case shall the calling of the roll be dispensed with. When it shall appear that any candidate has received the majority of the votes cast, the President of the Convention shall announce the question to be: "Shall the nomination of the candidate be made unanimous?" but if no candidate shall have received a majority of the votes, the Chair shall direct the vote to be again taken, which shall be repeated until some candidate shall have received a majority of the votes cast; and when any State has announced its vote it shall so stand until the ballot is announced, unless in case of numerical error.

Rule 5. When a majority of the delegates of any two States shall demand that a vote be recorded, the same shall be taken by States, Territories and the District of Columbia; the Secretary calling the roll of the States and Territories in the order heretofore stated, and the District of Columbia.

Rule 6. In the record of the vote by States the vote of each State, Territory and the District of Columbia, shall be announced by the Chairman, and in case the votes of any State, Territory or the District of Columbia shall be divided, the Chairman shall announce the number of votes cast for any candidate or for or against any proposition.

Rule 7. When the previous question shall be demanded by the majority of the delegates from any State, and the demand seconded by two or more States, and the call sustained by a majority of the Convention, the question will then be proceeded with and disposed of according to the